Conventional search engines operating in a networked computer environment such as the World Wide Web or in an individual computer can provide search results in response to entry of a user's search query. In many instances, the search results are ranked in accordance with the search engine's scoring or ranking system or method. For example, conventional search engines score or rank documents of a search result for a particular search query based on the contents of the documents, such as on the number of times a keyword or particular word or phrase appears in each document in the search results. Documents include, for example, web pages of various formats, such as HTML, XML, XHTML; Portable Document Format (PDF) files; and word processor and application program document files. Other search engines base scoring or ranking on more than the content of the document. For example, one known method, described in an article entitled “The Anatomy of a Large-Scale Hypertextual Search Engine,” by Sergey Brin and Lawrence Page, assigns a degree of importance to a document, such as a web page, based on the link structure of the web page. Other conventional methods involve selling a higher score or rank in search results for a particular query to third parties that want to attract users or customers to their websites.
If an Internet search engine returns more than one search result in response to a search query, the search results may be displayed as a list of links to the documents associated with the search results. A user may browse and visit a website associated with one or more of the search results to evaluate whether the website is relevant to the user's search query. For example, a user may manipulate a mouse or another input device and “click” on a link to a particular search result to view a website associated with the search result. In many instances, the user will browse and visit several websites provided in the search result, clicking on links associated with each of the several websites to access various websites associated with the search results before locating useful or relevant information to address the user's search query.
If the user is not satisfied with the initial search results, the user may decide to change or modify the search query to a second, typically-related query and obtain a new or similar set of search results. After inputting the second query and receiving new search results, the user may manipulate a mouse or another input device and “click” on a link to a particular search result to view a website associated with the search result. As before, the user may browse and visit several websites associated with the search results returned for the second query by “clicking” on links associated with the websites returned in the search results.
One such popular search engine utilizing the above methods is Google. Other well known search engines include Yahoo!, Live Search, AOL, and Ask, among others.
There are a plethora of less well known search engines, including Kartoo. Search engines such as Kartoo employ a visual display to show relations between various search results. For example, if a search query was “web 2.0,” Kartoo would return results grouping certain results by relation, such as technical, definition, phrase, wiki, contents, etc.
Google was incorporated in 1998, over ten years ago. Yahoo! pre-dates Google, starting its search services in 1995. Though these two search engines have dominated the search market for well over a decade, Yahoo! and Google were not the first search engines. Search engines and algorithms have existed well before then.
The Windows operating system has a built in search feature which can locate files in a local computer system. Earlier operating systems, such as DOS, also provided basic search features to locate files in a local computer system. Search engines and algorithms have been used in a variety of environments for decades. Their use and applicability are well known.
However, current search engines and algorithms do not fully consider the user's context or intent. There is a need, therefore, for an improved method, article of manufacture, and apparatus for displaying search results.